Time To Think
by FenMoon
Summary: First fanficiton, so please review.  Naruto confesses his secret to his boyfriend, but it doesn't go as planned...Naruto X ?, yaoi, rated T to be safe
1. Crying

**Author's Note: Okay, so this is my first fanfiction, _ever!_ I'd appreciate any comments, from compliments to constructive criticism. Let me know what you think.**

**Disclamer: I don't own Naruto. Also, this is yaoi, meaning boy/boy relationships. If you don't like that sort of thing, then read at you're own risk.  
**

* * *

**Time To Think**

Chapter 1: Crying

The arms that tightened around her waist surprised Sakura. She hadn't expected to be nearly tackled when she had heard the knock at her door. Inwardly, she scolded herself for not being ready to fend off her attacker. She was a ninja, for Christ's sake! Ninjas were supposed to be ready to fight at a moment's notice, even if caught by surprise.

Then Sakura heard the sobbing, and was suddenly thankful that she didn't defend herself after all. She had a pretty good guess as to who was crying into her bosom, and why. She looked down at the sunny blonde hair to confirm her suspicions. Sakura sighed, and comfortingly wrapped her arms around him, like a mother comforting her child. And to think, six years ago when she first started training with the blonde, she would have pummeled him for clinging to her like this. She allowed him to continue crying without interruption, thinking it better that he just let it all out. There really wasn't much to say, anyways, so she said only one thing:

"I take it didn't go so well, huh?"

* * *

It was almost noon when Naruto finally came down into Sakura's kitchen the next morning. He had fallen asleep in her arms in the middle of his sobbing, so she carried him into her room to sleep, thankful for the strength training she had received from Tsunade. She didn't mind sleeping on the couch, as she had spent a few nights on it, even without guests. Sometimes the stress from her work at the hospital got to her, and couldn't find the energy to walk upstairs to her room. 

She offered him a cup of coffee as he entered the small kitchen, but Naruto asked for some tea instead. Good. Naruto had been trying to give up coffee for the past three weeks, after he realized how addicted to it he was getting to the stuff, bordering on eight cups a day. At least he wasn't so distraught that he was giving up on his efforts. When Naruto gave up on anything, you knew something was very wrong. The kid just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, and, although no one ever really told him this, his determination had always been one of his most endearing qualities.

Naruto thanked Sakura for the tea she handed him, but only took a few sips before he began to look into the murky liquid, as if waiting for it to give him the answers to his problems. Of course, being only hot water and tealeaves, it did no such thing. Sakura watched him stare at his drink for about five minutes before she finally spoke.

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

The young kitsune-bearer winced for a second, and then his eyes began to soften. It took him about a minute to answer, but Sakura waited patiently.

"…I told him…everything. I-I told him about the Nine-Tailed Fox…about the seal and how it got there…and about what happened in the Valley. I…I even told him about the Akatsuki. Then, he just…he just left. He didn't even look at me! I begged him to say something, anything! But he just looked away, and then there has just a log where he was standing." Naruto's eyes began to well up again. " He just…just left me there, Sakura! He left me…he…he…"

Naruto broke down again, tears falling into his cup. Sakura just sat down next to him and let him cry, silently reminding him that she was there for him, just as she always had been and always would be. It tore at her heart to see Naruto like this. The boy who was always smiling, no matter how much trouble he was in. Who never gave up, and refused to follow even the basic shinobi tenets, particularly the ones concerning sacrifices and morals. Watching him in this state of vulnerability, Sakura found it hard to believe that this was the same Naruto that she hit over the head so many times when they were younger and had just started their training.

It had taken Naruto three days of internal debate to decide to confess his secret to the man he had fallen for, followed by two more to actually gather the courage to do so. Of course, when he had made the same confession to Sakura as they began their mission to save Gaara, he had done so with relative ease, but it was different then. Although he was nervous (a fact that Naruto admitted after the mission), Naruto knew that, no matter what, Sakura would accept him. After all the danger and the triumphs and losses the two had experienced together, the bond between them was stronger than any steel. They were not only friends, but were the closest thing to siblings that either had ever had. He could have told her that he was an alien, and she wouldn't have cared.

But this, this was different. This was the person that Naruto had fallen in love with, the person who loved him back. What he though mattered so much more to Naruto than what anyone else thought. He was even the one who told the blonde to give up coffee. While the two men had certainly gone through a lot together, it wasn't the same sort of familial bond that he had with Sakura. Naruto was afraid that, once he found out, his boyfriend would be scared away. After all, how could anyone stand sleeping next to one of the most dangerous and malicious demons that had ever entered the Village Hidden in the Leaves?

Apparently, they couldn't.

After Naruto had settled down a bit, he thanked Sakura and finally began drinking his tea. It had gotten a bit cold, but he didn't really mind. The only liquid that he liked hot anyways was the broth of his ramen. Speaking of ramen…

"Sakura, I'm getting kinda hungry. You got anything to eat?"

Sakura gave off a slight chuckle. This sounded much more like the Naruto that she knew. Of course, he hadn't eaten anything since he had shown up last night, and, with his nerves, who knows how long ago he had eaten before his grand confession.

"Come on, let's go grab something at Ichiraku. My treat."

"Great!" Naruto brightened up a bit as he got up from his seat. Sakura followed suit, and led him to the door, smiling. With most girls, ice cream was the comfort food of choice. With Naruto, it was ramen.

Just before her hand reached the doorknob, however, she felt Naruto embrace her from behind.

"Sakura," he said, almost in a whisper, "thank you. For letting me stay. For putting up with my crying. For listening to my problems. I'm sorry that I'm burdening you with all this."

Sakura turned around and returned her friend's embrace. "You're never a burden, Naruto. At least not when you're upset. You're one of my closest friends, and whenever you need help, I'll be here for you, just like you've been here for me all this time."

The two stood there for several minutes, until Naruto's stomach let out a low growl. The two let out a few short laughs, and then Sakura slung her arm around her companion's shoulders, and guided him out of her home and into the street towards his favorite ramen stand. Silently, Sakura made herself a promise to give a certain heartbreaking ninja a piece of her mind (and jutsu) the next time she saw him.

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**Just to be clear, I'm purposely not saying who Naruto's boyfriend is. Kinda want to see if anyone can guess. I _would've_ written it so that you wouldn't know it was a guy, but I'm not good enough a writer for that, and I did want to warn you that this is a yaoi story. Once again, let me know what you think. **


	2. Thinking

**A/N: Here's the second chapter. Actually, I'm kinda surprised I'm still writing this, with my class schedule and all. Not getting any reviews didn't help, either (HINT!). I said all my disclaimers in the first chapter, so I won't repeat them here. Enjoy!  
**

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Time to Think Ch. 2: Waiting

"You know," Shikamaru said suddenly, in his usual monotone voice, "it's not like he rejected you outright." Naruto didn't respond, partially out of depression, and partially out of surprise that Shikamaru actually spoke. Naruto had wandered over to the hill where Shikamaru had been lying down and had joined him in his cloud gazing. The two had been relaxing quietly for at least a couple of hours, neither of them saying anything. It took Naruto a few seconds to realize that Shikamaru said something, and then he decided to keep quiet. The last thing that he needed was to start bawling again.

Shikamaru, however, didn't stop trying. "I mean, he still hasn't really given you an answer, so maybe you still have a chance, ya know?" He looked at his blond friend, offering him an encouraging smile. At least, as much of a encouraging smile as the infamously lazy Nara Shikamaru could give. Naruto took pity on his friend and responded with a sad smile and a soft "Hn." The fact that Shikamaru was making an effort to do something at all was rare, and Naruto appreciated that the shadow ninja would make such an effort for his benefit. Naruto would not normally have chosen Shikamaru to go to for comfort, but he didn't really have anywhere else to go.

While the whole village knew of his orientation, the fact that he was the vessel of the nine-tailed beast was still considered forbidden knowledge. So, while all of their friends knew that something was very wrong with the two lovers, none of them knew exactly why. Sakura knew, of course, and if Gaara hadn't already known, his sister Temari, who had been traveling with Naruto when he told Sakura his secret, would have said something to him and their brother.

Naruto felt guilty about how much crying he had done in front of Sakura, however, and even though she said that she didn't mind (and meant it), Naruto felt that she had done more for him than she really had to already. Of course, trying to talk to the Kazekage and his siblings was out of the question. Aside from the fact that traveling to Suna would take three days if he went full speed (which he _really_ didn't feel up for), who in their right mind would go to Gaara, Kankuro and Temari for comfort?

That left only Shikamaru, who, being the genius that he pretended not to be, had figured it all out as soon as he heard Pakkun's report of the battle against Shukaku.

Up to this point, the brunette hadn't said anything since Naruto had joined him on the hill. Comforting people took a lot of patience and sympathy, things that Shikamaru considered troublesome and required way too much effort for him to bother with. So instead of talking with Naruto, he had opted for silence.

Naruto didn't mind. Just having someone around who understood was enough for him. It was also kind of nice that someone wasn't reminding him of his heartache. Until now, that is. Still, if _Shikamaru_ was trying to cheer him up now, he must really look pathetic.

With that thought, he got up and gave his friend a more earnest smile. "I think I'm gonna call it a day. Later, Shikamaru." Naruto than turned around and slowly walked back to the village, his hands stuffed loosely in his pants pockets.

Shikamaru watched him leave, and sighed. He tried, he really did, but he had no idea what he should say to his blond friend. Battle strategies were simple. Shoji was easy. He could even figure out when people were attracted to each other, knowing whom Naruto was falling for even before Naruto did. When it came to actual relationships, though, he had no clue what to think. He had meant what he said to Naruto; he hadn't been officially rejected yet, and the boy may very well come around. Whether he would or not, though, Shikamaru couldn't even begin to fathom.

Shikamaru turned back to the clouds above with an annoyed look on his face. "How troublesome."

* * *

Naruto fell back onto his bed in his one room apartment. He stared at the ceiling and grunted in frustration. The walk home had not been particularly pleasant. It was bad enough he had to suffer through his own melancholy, but almost every villager he came across on his way home had decided to stop whatever they were doing and stare at him as he passed. The stares were varied between ones of pity for his situation (to most of which he had offered an appreciative glance in return), terror of the thing inside of him (he still got those, although they were now relatively rare), and disgust over him dating another man (nice to know he still had some shock value).

Of course, he was used to the fearful ones, and he couldn't care less what the latter group thought of him. If they wanted to be bigots, then they could go screw themselves.

He had had no problem coming out of the closet to his friends and peers soon after his return to the village. It was during those three years of training that he managed to figure out his orientation. At first, it was realizing how little interest he had in the girls that Jiraiya often brought back with him to their hotel rooms. Then, as they traveled and Naruto found out what exactly the insults "fag" and "homo" meant, he felt a small knot slowly form in his stomach. The final straw, however, was when he was with Jiraiya while the author was doing "research" and, out of boredom, happened to glance into the men's' side of the hot springs. When Jiraiya finally decided to check on Naruto, he found that the boy had a nosebleed and deeply flushed cheeks, and it wasn't from the hot water.

Despite the fact that he had been present during this little incident, it still took Naruto a few weeks before he finally admitted his preference of gender to his teacher. Surprisingly, the ero-sannin was very understanding and supportive of his young student. He claimed that traveling the world for decades had given him a much more open view on life than most. He made sure that Naruto understood what being gay meant, and that, no matter what others said, there was nothing wrong with it. Of course, that didn't stop Jiraiya from poking fun at his student, but he managed to keep it in a very playful sense. In the long run, Naruto had come to accept whom he was, and had become stronger for it.

Still, he was getting pretty sick and tired of his love life being the village's new favorite soap opera. All the way home, he had to contain himself from shouting at the villagers to leave him the hell alone. _'I'm not a fucking lemur, dammit! Stop looking at me like I've got some sort of disease!_' He may have wanted comfort, but that didn't mean he was willing to be stared by his entire village.

Given his current mood, Naruto didn't feel too bad about not answering the door when someone began to knock. If it was a friend, he really didn't have the energy to converse with them right now. If it was a neighbor offering sympathy, he'd probably end up being rude to them. If it was someone coming to insult him, he couldn't guarantee their safety, and that would set back his plans to become Hokage quite a bit.

Naruto lay still, hoping whoever was knocking would just give up and leave. The knocking didn't stop, however, and just seemed to get louder and more annoyed. After five minutes (he actually counted), Naruto finally relented and got up and went to the door.

"Hang on a sec. I'm coming," he yelled to whomever was outside his apartment. _'Seriously,'_ he thought as he moved, _'How did they know I was even here? Eh, must have seen me walk in or something. Not like I've been home long.'_ As he reached for the knob, he began to consider different ways to politely tell his guest to piss off.

After he opened the door, though, his eyes went wide and his mind went blank, devoid of its earlier annoyance.

There, on his front step, was his boyfriend, his eyes downtrodden and his hand scratching the back of his head.

After about a half a minute of silence, the young man outside finally let out a sheepish "Yo."

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**A/N: Okay, second chapter's done. Good! Anyway, let me take the time to make a few things clear**. **First, I'll tell you right now that I am going to be slow to update this. Sorry, but unfortunately I am a somewhat lazy person in nature, and that's not something that's going to change right now. That being said, reviews will inspire me to post faster (once again, HINT!). Speaking of reviews, I want to see at least three guesses as to who Naruto's boyfriend is before I post the next chapter. Even anonymous reviews are welcome. If I haven't gotten three by the time the semester ends (end of December), I'll post it anyways, but do you really want to wait that long? The reason for this is that the next chapter will reveal the boyfriend's identity. Which brings me to my next point. I have already picked out who he is, so don't worry, I do know where this is going. Finally, just so you know, this story will be four chapters long, so it's halfway done already. So don't worry, the end is near, as long as I get those three guesses (final HINT!). **

** That's all, so please review, and let me know how I'm doing. Thank you!  
**


	3. Remembering

**A/N: Wow, it's true. Reviews do make you write faster. Seriously, I didn't expect this chapter to be done this soon. I'd like to thank Sharem for reviewing this story and giving me three guesses as to the boyfriend's identity, thereby fulfilling my requirements to get me to post before December. I originally wanted three reviews with one guess each, but that's my fault for not being specific, and I realize that this story is kind of hard to find. Seriously, do you guys know how fast romance stories with Naruto as the only defined character get posted and updated on this site?**

**But you're not here to listen to me gripe. You're here to read a hopefully good story and find out who the mysterious boyfriend is. He's revealed about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through the story. I humbly request that you fully read the story before that point, since I'll still be hinting at who it is beforehand, hopefully without being too obvious. So it's clear, the "He" that I'm referring to before that point is the boyfriend. After the revelation, I'll begin using his name normally, so don't peak ahead to the end, either. Also, if you haven't read the previous two chapters, read them before this one. Otherwise, it's no fun. **

**This chapter is about twice as long as the others, but I had a lot to say, and I didn't want to break this chapter up. This one's sort of a look back at Naruto's relationship and how it led up to where the 2nd chapter left off, hence the chapter title, "Remembering."**

**I've already made my disclaimers way back in the 1st chapter, so ladies and gentlemen, let the story begin!**

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Time To Think Ch. 3: Remembering 

He didn't like Naruto when he first met him. He thought he was a joke. A failure of a ninja that wasn't worth his time or attention. To be fair, though, that was pretty much what everyone in the village thought as well. It seemed that Naruto was destined to be an outcast his entire life, and growing close to the village idiot at all seemed ridiculous to him back then.

Then came the chunnin exams, the ones that were like no other. In fact, he still remembered that the exams the year after seemed rather dull in comparison. That was the year that Orochimaru attacked, that the village was almost destroyed, that the beloved Third Hokage died.

Most importantly, that was the year that a new Naruto appeared before him.

First, it was the written portion of the exam. He couldn't help but find it funny, remembering how cocky Naruto looked as he declared his superiority to all of the attendees, only for his expression to do a complete one-eighty when he found out exactly what the first exam was. Even then, when the infamous Tenth Question came around and the examinees were threatened with banishment from this and any future exams if they got it wrong, Naruto still got up and practically roared that he has not going to back down, that same cocky grin plastered over his face.

He wouldn't admit it until about two weeks after Naruto left, but when the blond did that, he was impressed.

It wasn't until the preliminary matches that his opinion of Naruto really began to change, though, along with everyone else's. It really was incredible. Naruto performed like he had been the best all his life. He punched harder than anyone thought possible. He pulled moves and tricks that no one else there would have even thought of. And every time he was injured, he just got back up, looking more determined and dangerous than before.

Sakura hadn't looked surprised; she was his teammate after all, and knew what he could do better than anyone. Hinata wasn't fazed either, since she had believed in Naruto before he had even graduated. He, however, was shocked. He never thought that Naruto could be that capable of anything. Yet, there he was, standing victoriously, and was possibly as stunned that he won as everyone else.

He could still recall how he felt when he woke up after Orochimaru's attack one month later and his teammate told him that Naruto had defeated Gaara. Of course there was a good deal of surprise in that. He had seen Gaara fight, and didn't think that anyone could beat that monster. But what surprised him even more was his own reaction. When he heard about the battle, he just smirked and said, "Of course he did. He's Naruto, after all." It was then that he knew, albeit begrudgingly, that Naruto had won his respect.

They weren't close or anything. Naruto went off with Jiraiya to find the next Hokage, and he had his own missions and responsibilities to deal with. Then Sasuke abandoned the village, and Naruto was left without a team. In order to keep the blond from running off and searching for his traitorous teammate, Tsunade shuffled him around with other gennin to keep him busy. Naruto had been placed with him more than a few times, and through their various life-and-death experiences, they formed a bond.

It wasn't love, mind you. They were thirteen, after all. They weren't ready to fall in love. They didn't even know what love was yet. It was still a bond, though, and two boys became friends.

This is when Shikamaru claimed that it first started.

After Naruto finally left for his three years of training abroad, life went on in the village as usual. He missed the blond, of course. Not that he'd ever admit it. Then again, so did everyone else. Not that they, with the exception of Sakura, Iruka and Hinata would admit it. He continued training, got stronger, gained a few inches, and started wearing clothes that he thought were a little more mature. He hadn't really made any headway on the romantic front, though. He didn't know yet that he was gay, mind you. He just thought that he had enough going on in his life that he didn't really have the time or concentration for dating. Although he _did_ catch himself staring whenever his fellow male teammate took off his shirt, but he just marked that up to hormones.

Then, Naruto came back, and the two of them greeted each other with smiles. After things had settled down in the village a bit and Naruto had some time to rest, the blond had made sure that he told all of his friends about his change in preference. Sakura, of course, was first. She took it pretty well. If anything, she felt a little better about how Naruto hadn't commented on her looks when they first reunited. She suggested that he tell Hinata next, since it'd be easier for both of them if she didn't hear it from someone else. Needless to say, Hinata was heartbroken. Still, she got over it, and gave him her support. When his turn finally came, he just accepted it. Stuff like that didn't really matter to him.

All in all, the news was received pretty well. All of Naruto's friends supported his decision, and if anyone who didn't decided to say something, it was made _very_ clear what could happen to them. Actually, it's debatable who frightened them more, Tsunade or Sakura.

Eventually, when Tsunade made it clear that she wouldn't promote him just on his merit, Naruto began to prepare for the next chunnin exams. He had offered to help him train, and from there the two of them became much closer, to the point that they were nearly inseparable, like brothers. They fought like scorpions and insulted each other often, but again they did so in a way that close siblings do.

This is when Sakura and Ino claimed that it first started.

Eventually, the time of the exams came around. Naruto passed with flying colors. After he had officially been promoted to chunnin, he and his friends partied well into the night. Naruto couldn't remember most of the evening. He knew that he had had an incredible time, and had felt that he belonged with these people, which meant a great deal to him. He also could recall that the drinks kept getting passed back to him, being the guest of honor, and that he and his now best friend had drunken more than anyone else that night. He was hoping that they'd let him off without any missions the next day, so he could drink without worrying about the inevitable massive hangover that he'd have in the morning. Strangely enough, when morning came and he woke up in his own bed, he hardly felt it a hangover at all.

That was probably because he had woken up next to a sleeping Inuzuka Kiba.

Not that he was asleep much longer. Nor was anyone else within half a mile of the small apartment.

After Naruto and Kiba (who had also panicked, though not as loudly) calmed down a little and checked to see that yes, they _did_ still have their clothes on, they tried to piece together what happened after they had separated from their friends. Most of it was too much of a blur to recall anything. Naruto did remember Kiba telling Akamaru to head home without him, and that he'd take Naruto home, but aside from that, all that either of them could recall of the night was feeling very warm. Kiba did however notice small bite marks on Naruto's lower lip, and remembered that some of the guys his older sister Hana dated had had them too. They got them after they shared a not-so-innocent kiss with the girl. It was somewhat unavoidable, given the Inuzuka clan's unusual teeth. She even joked that it was her own little test to see if the guy was worth it or not.

After this revelation, an awkward silence fell between the two friends, broken only when Akamaru came to find out what happened to Kiba. He left with his dog, and the two boys spent most of the day reflecting on what had happened. Eventually, Naruto went to see Kiba later, and tentatively asked how he was feeling. Kiba responded that he was okay-except his ears were still ringing from Naruto's screams that morning. Naruto's eye twitched, and he shot back that he was the one with the bite marks that made it hard to eat anything. Kiba called him a wimp, Naruto called him dog-breath, and after a short round of "training" later, and everything was back to normal between them.

Well, sort of. Naruto already knew that he was gay, so the fact that he had made out with another guy didn't really affect him. It did affect Kiba, though. It was not his first kiss, mind you, but it was the first he had with another guy, and even if they couldn't remember it, he wanted to know if he had enjoyed it, if he had enjoyed kissing Naruto.

Time passed, and that thought expanded, and Kiba found himself not only thinking about Naruto's lips. He began to notice that Naruto actually had a good body, tanned and smooth despite all the fights he had been in, and while it wasn't overly built, he could definitely make out the muscles when he took his orange jacket off during training. He realized how deep his sky blue eyes were, and how Naruto looked so much more wild when he took off his headband and let his sun-yellow hair fall over his face. All of the arrogance and high-energy antics that made Kiba think that Naruto was a loser before now seemed cute to him, and all of the determination and confidence that he respected made him feel like a damn schoolgirl. Naruto, of course, was completely oblivious to how his best friend would blush whenever he spoke, and never noticed how he got Kiba's "attention" whenever he spontaneously decided to go swimming in just his boxers, but even that innocent obliviousness attracted the dog ninja to his friend.

Eventually, it became too much for poor Kiba, so he did what he always did when he had a problem that couldn't be solved by punching something: he asked Akamaru. The dog, unlike the blond, was not oblivious at all and knew full well how Naruto affected Kiba. Nor was he surprised. He claimed that he had seen the attraction between the two boys back when they first met, and that it was only a matter of time. So, when Kiba asked for his advice, he gave what he thought was the obvious answer: kiss him again.

Kiba's eyes went wide for a moment, and then he proceeded to yell at Akamaru for a good five minutes about how boneheaded the idea was. Then he actually thought about it for a second, and ran off to find Naruto.

Naruto was shocked when Kiba asked him. He wasn't a stranger to kissing either, and had indeed made out with a few guys before, but he wasn't what he would call "experienced" either. At first, he thought it was a bad idea. Kiba was his best friend after all, and while he did have the same wants and needs as any teenage boy, he had heard horror stories of when friends hooked up with one another and everything went to Hell. He recognized the need in Kiba's eyes as the dog boy practically begged for this, however, and eventually gave in.

That night, a lot happened. Kiba found out that he was, indeed, gay. Also, Naruto passed Hana's little test. He also found that Kiba looked pretty damn good without clothes on.

* * *

Eventually, this experimental kissing led to more earnest kissing. This led to Naruto asking Kiba out on a first date. It was a gut-wrentching affair where they both just kept stealing glances at each other only to quickly turn away blushing, and ended in a chaste yet very sweet kiss at the end of the night. This led to a second date, where they were a little more confident and a good deal more comfortable with each other, and once again ended in a kiss, this one a little deeper. This, in turn, led to another date, and other, and another. Eventually, they tried sex. Kiba turned out to be a bit of a biter. Naruto had a tendency to moan. Neither of them minded. Then, came the inevitable confessions. Kiba was the first to admit that he loved Naruto. When he did, Naruto broke into a wide grin and asked him what took him so long, and then he returned the gesture to his best friend, who was now his boyfriend. 

About a year passed, and the two were still together, and very much in love. Quite frankly, Naruto couldn't remember a time in his life when he had been happier. Until one day…

It wasn't a horrible day, by any means. In fact, what had led up to that moment, even the moment itself, wasn't bad at all. Both boys had the day off from missions, and they had spent it training with each other. After training, they decided to take a short nap in one of the trees near the training ground. Naruto woke up first, in Kiba's arms. He smiled and traced a finger over the red tattoo on the brunette's cheek. Kiba grumbled in his sleep, lightly swatting away the hand on his face as he woke.

Naruto chuckled lightly. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Eh, don't worry about it," was the groggy response. "That tickled, though."

"Sorry," Naruto said, though it was clear by his light tone of voice that he really wasn't. "Those triangles on your face are cute, though. Why do you have them anyway?"

"They're supposed to be fangs," Kiba explained, "and the red's supposed to be blood. It's kinda how my family shows respect to our nin-ken, makin' ourselves more like dogs an' all."

Naruto thought about that for a second, and gave a small grunt of understanding. He was perfectly fine with leaving the conversation at that, and leaned back into Kiba.

"And you?"

Naruto's brow furrowed at the unexpected question. He looked up at Kiba with a confused expression, silently asking for clarification.

Kiba understood, and tapped a finger on Naruto's stomach. 'What's yours mean?"

Naruto realized that Kiba was talking about the fox's seal, and his face turned away form his boyfriend and darkened a little bit. "That's…not a clan mark…"

Kiba looked at Naruto's face with concern, but let it drop. He had obviously just stepped on a sore spot, and knew better than to pry. After a few seconds of silence, Kiba gave a quiet "Sorry."

"It's alright," Naruto uttered in response.

Clearly, though, it wasn't. Naruto had been so happy with Kiba that he had managed to partially forget that the Nine-Tailed Fox was sealed within him. Now that he remembered, he wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he was afraid of how Kiba would react to the news that his lover had a demon living inside of him, and Naruto didn't want to lose Kiba over this. On the other hand, Kiba did deserve to know, especially considering how…active…the fox had gotten lately. Not to mention that the Akatsuki would eventually come to try to take Naruto, and Kiba might get caught in the crossfire.

So, Naruto began trying to figure out what to do. When he talked to Sakura about it, she said that she didn't really know what he should do, but that he probably should tell him. Naruto also consulted with Gaara, figuring that he had might have some experience with this. He just said to tell him. The fox was a part of Naruto, whether he liked it or not, and Kiba had to accept _all_ of Naruto if this relationship was going to work. Even the fox itself put its own two cents in, "calling" Naruto into its lair while the boy slept. It practically commanded Naruto tell the dog ninja, saying that it was tired of being put on the back burner in Naruto's mind. It also seemed to approve of Kiba in its own odd way; probably since he was the closest thing to a canine that Naruto was going to share a bed with.

Finally, Naruto resolved himself to tell Kiba. It was the night before Kiba was going to leave on a mission with his team and sensei. Naruto wasn't sure if he picked that night because he was worried that his courage would falter while the brunette was gone, or because he wouldn't be around for a while if things went badly. Maybe it was a bit of both. Considering how things went, though, he was leaning towards the latter reason.

Actually, a part of Naruto's surprise when Kiba showed up on his doorstep when he came home from cloud watching with Shikamaru was that he was back already. Kiba had been whining beforehand how he would be spending a couple of weeks hunting down bandits in a small village near the Land of Waves. Yet, only a week had passed, and here he was.

"You're back already?" It came out rather flat, and bordered between being a question and a statement, but it was all Naruto could manage at the moment.

Kiba looked off to the left a bit, his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Tch. Not like it was a tough mission." Then he looked back at Naruto. "We need to talk."

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**A/N: TaDa! Yes, Kiba is the boyfriend. Congrats, Sharem, your third guess was right**. **So, were you all surprised? Yes, I'm a KibaNaru fan. Hell, I'm a Kiba x anything fan. Canines always do something for me. KibaNaru is my favorite, though. Don't know why, but these two seem to fit for me. Hopefully, this pairing doesn't upset anyone who's been reading this story. I noticed that the people who favorited Time To Think (for which I am extremely flattered) seem to be SasuNaru fans. I just ask that you give this story a chance if you've liked it so far. I also want to state that I am taking liberties with the Inuzuka family traits. I have no idea if the triangles are supposed to be "blood fangs" or if they really have this kissing "problem," but the fang thing makes sense to me, and the tooth thing seemed kinda fun to me.  
**

**Now, I'd like to apologize. I realized that I haven't really been playing fair with the little Guess The Boyfriend game. Most of the real clues were in this chapter. The first chapter and the second really only had negative clues. These are clues that tell you who it _isn't_, rather than who it _is_. Shikamaru is a good example. Seeing as how he's trying to comfort Naruto, he's obviously not the boyfriend. A less obvious clue was the fact that the confession was about the kitsune. Since the boyfriend hadn't known about it before the events of this story, that meant that he had to be about Naruto's age or younger, since they were the only ones not allowed to know about it. This eliminates the adult age group as a whole (Iruka, Kakashi, etc.). The only real clue leading to Kiba before this chapter was at the end of the second, when Naruto was wondering how they knew he has home. Kiba using his dog nose through doorways may be a bit of an old trick, but it works for me.**

**Now that that's done, review! Aside from telling me how good/bad my writing is, I want to know your reactions to Kiba. If you thought it was him or someone else, I want to know. If you thought it was someone else, but realized through the hints in this chapter that it wasn't, I want to hear about it. If you thought it was someone in chapter one, but changed your mind after reading chapter two, I want to hear about that too. I like to explore how the human mind works. I also want some advice: should I add Kiba's name in the keywords or not. One one hand, leaving it with Naruto only gets it swallowed up in all the other stories with the same criteria. On the other hand, if you see it's Kiba's name in the search words, you can guess he's the boyfriend pretty easily, and that'll ruin the whole point of keeping his identity hidden.  
**

**And so, this chapter comes to a close. Only one left. That one might take a little longer, seeing as how part of the fun's gone now that Kiba's revealed. Hopefully, you won't loose interest and I won't take until Christmas to write it. Maybe this can work as temptation: Kiba's had time to think, so what will his answer be?...**

**Until then!**


	4. Talking

**A/N: Finally, I've finished my first story. It actually feels kinda nice. I always have different ideas for stories in my head, and now I'm actually getting on of them down on paper! Well, sort of. Anyway, I'm not gonna waste time with a long author's note here. I'm just going to say that, if you haven't read the previous chapters, or if you want to read the disclaimer (why you would, I don't know), than go back to chapter 1 and start from there. Otherwise, you'll know who the '?' in 'Naruto x ?' from the summary is before you're supposed to. Seriously, it's like cheating on a board game, and where's the fun in that? And now, without further ado, the story begins/ends.**

* * *

Time To Think Ch. 4: Talking

They didn't have a special place or anything. There was nowhere that had any sort of important memories for them. If anything, that place would have been Naruto's apartment. That was where pretty much all of their firsts happened, from waking up together for the first time to their first real kiss. It was also where they had first tried having sex, opting for the greater privacy it provided rather than the crowded Inuzuka residence. Unfortunately, they were already at Naruto's apartment, and they both needed time to think of what they wanted to say to each other. So, they just started walking aimlessly, both in very uncharacteristic silence.

As they wandered through the village, Naruto tried to make small talk, asking Kiba about his mission. Apparently, the bandits that they were supposed to find and capture were hardly even worth calling bandits. Team 8 didn't even have to track them down. The so-called robbers attacked them full force on their way to the village in the Land of Waves, not even noticing the leaf headbands all four of them were wearing.

"And seriously, these guys were weak. I mean even _Konohamaru_ could have taken them on." Both of them laughed at that for a few minutes, before dying down into another awkward silence. Eventually, they managed to wander near the training grounds, and caught Naruto caught sight of the memorial stone.

Naruto's face softened and he approached the stone, Kiba following suit. Naruto stared at the names listed there. The names of shinobi who had died for the safety and ideals of the village.

Kiba watched as Naruto slowly crouched down next to the stone and pointed to one corner of the stone. "Here." Kiba didn't get what his blond was trying to say, so he looked at where he was pointing. An understanding expression appeared on his face as soon as he read one of the surnames on the stone: _'Umino.'_ Iruka's parents.

"This whole section here is for the names of those lost in the Kyuubi attack," Naruto continued, his eyes never leaving the list. "All of these people died, because of the thing inside of me."

Both boys were silent for a minute, and then Kiba walked away from the stone and sat down on the rim of the platform that it was placed upon, motioning for Naruto to join him. The blond complied, and both began staring off into space, waiting for the other to begin the inevitable discussion that they were both dreading. Kiba spoke first. "I ran into Sakura when I got back. She was pissed."

Naruto gave a slight nod. "Sorry about that. I've been spending a lot of time with her since you left." He had enough pride to not mention that he had been crying during most of that time.

"S'alright. When did ya tell her?"

Naruto knew what he meant. "When we were rescuing Gaara. She's been with me since we became genin. She deserved to know more than anyone else." He finally turned his head to face the man he had come to love. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell all you guys sooner. I…I was just afraid I'd wind up all alone again. Besides, I didn't know if I could tell you. It's forbidden-"

"To talk about the fact that the fox was sealed inside of you," Kiba finished for him. "I know. Kurenai-sensei told me."

Naruto's eyes widened. Kiba had talked to Kurenai about this? It sort of made sense, though. Kiba's teacher knew more details about the fox's attack than even Naruto did, and of course Kiba would need to talk to someone about what had happened between the lovers before he and his team had left. Another thought crossed Naruto's mind; if Kiba had told Kurenai about the Kyuubi, then did he…

Kiba seemed to know what Naruto was thinking, because the next thing he said was, "Yeah, Hinata and Shino know too. Sorry 'bout that. All three of them had been on me 'bout how depressed I was. They wouldn't drop it, and I just kinda blurted it out." Kiba scratched the back of his head nervously. "Although, it got a big reaction out of Shino. Seriously, I've _never_ seen his jaw drop before. You woulda loved it." Kiba chucked a little, until he saw that Naruto wasn't as amused. "…Sorry."

"It's alright." Clearly, it wasn't, but Naruto wasn't really mad at Kiba for this. He should've known that Kiba wouldn't be able to keep quiet, especially as his teammates and teacher are probably some of the most insightful shinobi in the village. They would have been able to tell that something was wrong, and like Kiba said, they wouldn't back off until they knew what was bothering the dog-nin that they all cared for. They were also the least likely to spread Naruto's secret around the village. Besides, Kiba was right; Naruto would've given an arm to see Shino's face.

Naruto forced his train of thought to get back on track and asked, "What did she say? Kurenai, I mean."

"Pretty much everything that you told me. How the Fourth gave his life to seal the fox in you, and why the Akatsuki was after you. She gave it in more detail, though." Naruto gave a slight grunt. It wasn't as if there was any more to it. "She told me something else, though." Or maybe there was. But what else was there to add? Naruto had been sure to tell Kiba everything about the demon already. He looked at Kiba with confusion in his eyes, silently asking for him to continue.

Kiba looked back and answered the unasked question. "She told me why you were always alone when we were younger. How everyone treated you like a monster, even though you hadn't done anything."

Oh, _that_. Naruto hadn't mentioned that part of his life to Kiba before, even during his confession before Kiba had left. It wasn't as if he ever meant to keep that from him. It was just that he had all but forgotten about it. Back then, before he graduated, Naruto was sad and angry, and wanted desperately to be acknowledged by his peers and neighbors. Over time, though, even though he hadn't told them about the kitsune, he had finally made friends and had been accepted by the majority of the village. Now, Naruto had finally felt as if he belonged here, and had put all of his childhood depression behind him, and just didn't think about it anymore.

Now, though, as he saw the guilt and pity that was written all over Kiba's face, he began to think that maybe he should have told him. Maybe Kiba would have understood him better. Maybe Kiba understood now. Maybe…

Not wanting to wait to find out, he asked his boyfriend straight to his face, "So, what did you think?"

Kiba looked away again before he responded. "To be honest, I didn't know _what_ to think. Don't get me wrong; I know that you're not the fox. You're kind and compassionate, and even when you're on a mission, ya always try to capture the enemy instead of kill them. That's not something the kitsune would do. Hell, it'd just level 'em, and everything else in ten kilometers.

"Still, I'm not gonna lie to you and say that it's all okay. I know it's not your fault, Naruto, but I'm _scared_ of that thing. I'm afraid that I'm gonna wake up one day, an' it'll take you over an' kill me. I'm afraid that you'll lose control, an' wipe out the whole village. I know that none of that's your fault, Naruto, but I can't change how I feel about it."

After Kiba finished, Naruto chocked back his tears, only giving a quiet "I see." He didn't know how he should feel. A part of him wanted to yell at and pummel Kiba for breaking his heart like this. Another part understood what Kiba was going through. All of Kiba's fears were his as well, and they had plagued him ever since that bastard Mizuki told him the truth so many years ago. Not wanting to break down in front of his apparently ex-boyfriend, Naruto got up and began to leave the training grounds. He took about five steps before he heard Kiba shout, "I talked to Hinata, too."

Naruto turned around in surprise. What else could Kiba have to say? Mentioning Hinata brought it's own share of surprise as well. After they had started publicly dating, their relationships with the Hyuuga heiress had become somewhat strained. She wasn't angry with them, per say (she was far too kind to be angry with anyone for long), but she couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed for the fact that her love interest was dating her teammate. She and Kiba still functioned well as a team, mind you, but they seemed to have lost the sibling-like affection that they had once shared.

Kiba, still sitting on the rim of the platform, continued. "She pulled me aside the day after I talked with Kurenai-sensei. I told her what I just told you. Then, she reminded me of somethin' I forgot a while ago."

Kiba stood up now, and looked at Naruto with a solemn smile. The blond just looked back at him, perplexed. Where exactly was Kiba going with this?

Kiba continued on with his speech. "When we first graduated the academy, and were put in teams, Hinata was even less confident than she was when you met her again at the chunnin exams. After all the intimidation that her father and that bastard Neji put her through, she was a nervous wreck. She still thought that she could never be strong enough to impress anyone.

"Now, I liked her. She was cute, sweet, an' caring. The first day of training, she even brought us all rice balls to eat. When we started training, though, Kurenai-sensei had us spar right off the bat. I wanted to impress them all, so I wasn't gonna hold back, an' I got right into my man-beast transformation and down-on-all-fours technique. Next thing I knew, Hinata was screaming an' fainted. After that, she was too scared to even get close to me. I felt like crap for it. She was this sweet, innocent little girl, an' she was fuckin'_afraid_ of me."

Kiba paused for a second, his fists clenched and his mouth in an angry snarl. Naruto recognized that look. He had been staring at it in the mirror ever since his brunette left. It was a look of self-loathing, of wanting to punish himself for what he did to the person he cared for.

Kiba relaxed his face and hands, and once again a smile returned to his face, this one a little brighter than the last. He then continued with his story. "Then, one day, she started talkin' to me. She asked me about training Akamaru, an' how I could speak with him, an' what it was like having an older sister. She was fidgeting the whole time, but she kept talkin' with me every day, an' as time passed she opened up a bit more. She told me about how messed up her home was, an' how she always looked up to ya. Course, I thought she was nuts for thinkin' that you were so cool, but you know how I felt about ya back then. Anyway, eventually, it got to the point where she wasn't afraid of me at all, an' when I first figured out how to transform into that two-headed wolf, _Shino_ was more scared than she was.

"After she reminded of this, she told me why she had started talkin' to me in the first place. She said that the reason was that she didn't know me at all, an' she didn't want to keep away from me just 'cause she was afraid. It wasn't fair to either one of us, because she could miss out on meeting someone worth knowing, someone that could make her smile, just because she was afraid of 'em. She told me that she thought that my fear now was the same as hers was back then."

After Kiba finished the story, he reset his stance, and looked at Naruto with strength shinning in his eyes. Naruto stared back, his own eyes wide in fascination, and his body filling with hope. Kiba began to approach Naruto, talking as he did so. "But this ain't the same as back then. Back then, Hinata didn't know me at all. She just hoped that I was a good person, so she didn't let her fear get in the way of findin' out. But I already know you. I know that you're kind, caring an' innocent, yet you're strong, an' brave enough to stare down even Orochimaru. I know that you can be an idiot an' cocky an' an ass sometimes, an' even that drives me crazy 'bout you. I know that you're probably the best thing that's ever happened to me, an' I'll be damned before I'll let my stinkin' fear get in the way of that!"

Naruto was choking on his own tears again by the time Kiba reached him, but now for a different reason. He knew what Kiba was about to say. He could tell from everything that he had just heard, and how Kiba's voice sounded. He could see it in his face, the emotion pulsing in the dog-nin's thin, beast-like eyes. Still he needed to hear the words. He needed to confirm how Kiba felt.

The brunette grasped his blonde's arms to make sure he was paying attention, and said, "Naruto, I love you, an' fox or no fox, I wanna be with you the rest of my life."

Almost immediately after Naruto heard this, he broke down and pulled his body into Kiba's. He wrapped his arms tightly around the brunette's torso, and buried his face in his shoulder, sobbing into his leather jacket. Kiba was surprised by the sudden movement, but quickly returned the embrace, just as if not tighter than Naruto's.

"Man, you really are a crybaby, aren't ya," he said, now with much more levity in his voice.

Naruto pulled away to look at his brunette again. "Shut up! It's okay to cry when you're happy." He sounded angry, but he had a blush of embarrassment tinting his cheeks.

Kiba smiled, and then looked a little apologetic. "Sorry that I just left ya like that. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just needed a little time to think, is all."

Naruto shook his head. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're back, and that you're not leaving."

They both smiled, and pulled each other into a kiss. Maybe it was because of the moment, and all of the intense emotion it had stirred, or simply because he hadn't made out with anyone for a whole week, and felt a little needy. Whatever the reason, Naruto felt as if this was the most passionate kiss that the two of them had ever shared together. He felt this thought, and all his thoughts for that matter, slip away as Kiba's tongue entered his mouth. Naruto got back on task to what was important.

Kissing Kiba.

Kissing _his_ Kiba.

Kissing the man that was, and always would be, his.

THE END

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**A/N: And they lived happily ever after. Yeah, I know, it's sappy, but to be honest I can only really give happy endings. My psyche won't allow for me to write a sad one. After all, the realm of reality is filled with depressing stories, so shouldn't the realm of fiction be where we can escape from that?**

**Anyways, this story is done, and now that you've read the whole thing (I hope), please review. I'm actually kind of worried about this chapter, and its quality compared to the previous ones. So let me know how I did, everything from how I laid out and progressed the story, to if I kept the characters _in_ character. I still want to know if I should change the keywords or not, too (for explanation, see the closing notes in the last chapter).**

**As for me, I'm gonna lay back and enjoy a nice feeling of accomplishment. I am going to write again, and it probably will be another KibaNaru. I've got two different ideas, actually, and I'm trying to decide which one to use. So, then, see ya later!**


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